01 Princess, fare tiers
Princess bundles everything into three fare tiers: Standard, Plus, and Premier. You pick one at booking. The 2026 rates are $65/$100 per person per day on standard ships, $70/$105 on Sphere-class (Sun Princess, Star Princess). Plus gets you drinks ($15 cap), Wi-Fi on one device, gratuities included, and four casual dining meals. Premier adds unlimited specialty dining, a higher drink cap ($20), Wi-Fi on four devices, a photo package, reserved show seating, and a shore excursion credit.
- Plus is usually right for couples who drink 2-3 cocktails a day and don't need specialty dining.
- Premier pays back if you want specialty every night OR need Wi-Fi on more than one device.
- Princess Plus in 2026 no longer bundles specialty dining (the "2 free specialty meals" benefit was restructured to casual dining). Cruise with Plus expecting to pay covers at Crown Grill à la carte.
02 Royal Caribbean, package families
Royal Caribbean sells Beverage, Dining, and Internet as three separate package families. You buy whichever you want, independently, and each adds 18% gratuity at checkout. The Deluxe Beverage Package runs about $89/day pre-gratuity ($105 after), with a $14 per-drink cap and no daily quantity limit. Dining has three shapes: a 3-night flat package ($115/guest), a 5-night flat ($175/guest), and an Unlimited ($50/guest/night).
- Deluxe Beverage: break-even is roughly 5 drinks/day, below that, pay à la carte.
- Dining packages do NOT include beverages. Common misconception.
- If you're planning 3 specialty meals, the 3-night flat usually beats the Unlimited. Our calculator picks the cheapest dining package automatically.
- All 21+ guests in the same stateroom must buy the Beverage Package if one does.
03 Norwegian, Free at Sea
Norwegian's 2026 model bundles all four perks at the base promotional fare: Premium Beverage, Specialty Dining (about 3 meals on a 7-night cruise), Wi-Fi (150 minutes per stateroom), and a $50 shore excursion credit per port. The catch: the Beverage perk carries a mandatory daily service charge of about $28.50 per guest per day, billed separately from the regular daily cabin service charge. That's the piece most first-timers miss.
- "Free at Sea" was briefly renamed "More at Sea" (2024-2025). NCL reverted. Both names appear.
- Free at Sea Plus is a $49.99/day upgrade that unlocks Premium Plus beverage, unlimited Wi-Fi, and more specialty meals.
- Budget for TWO service charges, the daily cabin one AND the beverage-perk one. Together ~$48/guest/day.
04 When packages stop paying back
Packages are priced for the average heavy user. Light users lose money. Before buying, estimate your actual consumption: drinks per day, specialty meals across the cruise, whether you'll use Wi-Fi enough to notice. Our package calculator runs the math for your specific trip across all three lines.
- Under 3 drinks/day: consider the non-alcoholic Refreshment Package (Royal) or no package (pay à la carte).
- Zero specialty meals planned: don't buy any dining package. Main dining is included and genuinely fine.
- Wi-Fi for a couple on Princess Plus: you get 1 device. If you both need Wi-Fi, either step up to Premier or pay à la carte for the second device.